eva unit zero

Well, it's either trade for him or give up compensation picks. To sign Torres to a deal Edmonton wouldn't match, that would mean 3m or 3.5m. Not only is he not worth that kind of coin, The Wings would be out three first rounders. So we offer a trade for him. Any idea what he would cost in a trade? Probably more than the Wings would or should be willing to part with to get him.

Zetterberg is better defensively than Draper. Had Z remained healthy, he'd have had an excellent chance at winning the Selke.

Backstrom started fewer games and played fewer minutes than Mason. And I will remind you, I didn't say my opinion was that Mason was a top ten guy; that's how the votes shook out. My question to you was, why Mason and not Vokoun? Two arguments could be made for it..Mason was voted in by someone from Nashville, or someone not from Nashville. In the former, the argument is that the voter was being a homer. Which begs the question of why Mason over Vokoun? In the latter, the argument is that Mason's stellar stats over a half season earned him a vote. My point about bringing up the Vezina voting was that Mason, and NOT Vokoun, had received a vote. Which means that moving Vokoun can't really be called a 'firesale' as Mason is much cheaper and had a better season.

If Sammy is traded, it will be for a pick to open cap space to resign Bertuzzi/Hasek/Schneider.

Rafalski is probably the best option if we can't keep Schneider. He'll cost less, is solid at both ends, and is from Detroit.

Draper isn't even the best defensive center on the TEAM.

LOL

Minnesota's top four forwards right now are Gaborik, Demitra, Rolston, and Parrish. Add in RFA Bouchard and Murray and you have: Gaborik/Demitra/Murray Rolston/Bouchard/Parrish Or some variation of that. But there are three natural centers in those two lines..why would they need another?

Regehr would be a great addition. I think we should offer Lilja and a pick for him.

The Wings should use these lines: Hudler/Zetterberg/Holmstrom Filppula/Datsyuk/Bertuzzi Cleary/Franzen/Grigorenko Maltby/Draper/Kopecky Any questions?

Well the fact that Phaneuf is an All-Star and Norris contender, while Weber was Nashville's #5 d-man might have something to do with that. Weber would likely have been the #4 or #5 guy if he were dropped onto Calgary's roster, too. Maybe he will be that good down the road, but he is not NOW. Ohlund has been one of the best defensive defensemen in the league for years, and contributes offensively as well ast he guys you listed, who are LIABILITIES defensively. How you can think they are on Ohlund's level is baffling.

The HOF isn't supposed to recognize what you COULD have done. If it did, Alexandre Daigle would be in. Neely was a decent player who had a couple good seasons but was not good enough or around long enough to justify his selection. People often justifty it 'but what about how he used dominant physical play to score?' and that's a valid thought, until you realize that giving him credit for using his body to score as well as for his actual numbers is basically double-counting his stats. If you talk about his dominant physical game making him an offensive force and then he still only puts up the numbers he did, how is that deserving? Bure is a much better candidate than Neely. Bure had better career stats in a shorter career, and scored 50 goals five times and 60 twice, and twice scored over 100 points. Bure was also a bona fide Hart candidate, something Neely never was.

Sundin was drafted in 1989 as a natural center who was shifted to the wing in Quebec because they also were bringing in that same year the 1990 top pick Owen Nolan. Nolan would center the second line for two seasons before the players switched places.

Preissing is not great in all three zones. The only defenseman to suit up for the Sens this season to play less total time on the PK was Tomas Malec, who dressed for one game. You will bring up his +40...at which point I will bring up Andrei Meszaros and Joe Corvo. If Meszaros was -15, and Corvo +8 but still given the PK duties ahead of Preissing, doesn't that suggest that Preissing's number is inflated and not representative of his defense? Also, Preissing led all Ottawa defensemen in scoring, yet was their 6th defenseman. If he were great defensively, he'd have been their #1.

Everyone pretty much agrees Neely didn't deserve it. I mean, if you say Neely deserves it, the you open the thing to a whole bunch of guys with similar accomplishments. Neely was a second-team RW four times, a first teamer never, and never scored 100 points in the most offensive era of the NHL. Using Neely as the selection criteria, Markus Naslund, John Leclair, Paul Kariya, Kevin Stevens, Keith Tkachuk, and Pavel Bure should all pretty much be locks for the HOF should they retire today. Now, those guys were all great players, but to argue that any of them is a lock for the HOF is laughable. Neely, just like Clark Gillies, was undeserving of the honor but got in anyway.

The Wings last year would have won the Cup had Schneider been healthy. We have an opportunity to retain last year's team minus Lang and possibly Markov. We have guys in the system who can replace those guys with little difference. Doesn't it make more sense to try another run or two with a core we know works instead of trying to replace Schneider with a guy who will be overpriced and less effective?

The reason I brought up how Preissing relates to his teammates was to illustrate the fact that his plus-minus is an inflated number. He was the number 6 defenseman on the Sens and never played against top lines or on PK. He was no better offensively than several other guys, most of whom played significantly more time. Schneider has been a #1 or #2 defenseman on his team for over a decade. Preissing has never been in the top 3. Assume Preissing is 2m cheaper than Schneider, what is your suggestion at that point? The Wings have 10m to spend on Hasek, Bert, and Schneider. If you assume that 5m goes to Hasek and Bert, and Schneider would cost 5m, that means if we opted for Preissing we'd have 2m extra. Exactly who do you suggest we could get for 2m that could make an impact?

Who do you want that Nashville has actually traded? We don't need Vokoun, Hartnell cost way too much, and Timonen cost way too much. Philly gave up a first round pick for the right to overpay two players...I want no part of that. Florida gave up a first and two seconds to get a starting goalie, which admittedly is probably fair, but the Wings don't need to make that trade.

Canadian-born means not Heatley. He was born in Germany. And even if you do add him, Canada is still way behind. And as far as your defensemen...Regehr is the only one you listed who is anywhere NEAR Ohlund. Blake and Jovo have always been hideous in their own end, and are now only mediocre offensively. The fact that Ohlund had comparable offensive numbers to Jovo and Blake, and Ohlund is an elite DEFENSIVE defenseman, speaks volumes about how much better he is than them. Weber might be an elite player down the road, but he's nowhere near that level yet. Bouwmeester is decent, but again, he's no Ohlund. Ohlund is one of the ten best defensemen in the NHL. None of the guys you listed are.

Schneider's deal was not pre-cap, and it was a bargain both years. Schneider at 5m would have been market value compared to other guys in the league who are similar types/skills. Schneider for anything under 5m this year would be a ******* steal.

You totally misread me. If he signs for over or under a certain amount, I will expect him to reach certain standards. Why? Because if he makes more money, that means we have less cap space to work with, meaning because he took up cap space that could hav eotherwise been spent on adding an offensive player, he should replace that offense. If he's healthy enough to score like he used to, he deserves the money. If he's not, he doesn't. Which translates to: If he gets the money, he should be expected to score like he used to. If not, he shouldn't. How about this thought: Tomas Holmstrom, probably the most comparable player we have to Bertuzzi, scored .39 goals per game last year and .36 the year before. If Bertuzzi gets under 3m, he should be scoring at a similar rate to Holmstrom, who is paid about the same as Bert would be getting. If Bert gets significantly more than Holmstrom, he should thusly score significantly more. It's simple. If Bert gets paid like Tomas, he should be expected to score like him. If he gets paid way more, he should be expected to score way more.

It's better than the abuse of compensatory picks that used to happen. Anyone remember when NYR traded UFA-to-be Brian Leetch to Edmonton in June for a 4th rounder? No? Well, that's probably because he signed with the Rangers on July 1st. Edmonton got a better pick from the league than they gave up (2nd rounder), and the Rangers got a free pick for being patient with signing Leetch.

Messier and Francis are two of the top five scoring players of All-Time. No way they aren't first ballot. Larionov was a great player in the NHL, but before he came to the NHL he was considered one of the five best centers in the world for a decade. He should be in. After that you have MacInnis, Stevens, Lemieux, and Oates. Lemieux had some nice playoffs, but was never a star in the NHL and probably shouldn't even be in this discussion. Oates had some good years, but never really shone through as a star player and was always a tier below. Which leaves Stevens and MacInnis. MacInnis won a Norris and a Smythe, and was close to the Norris on six other occasions. Stevens never won a Norris, and was only a contender for the honor on a couple of occasions. MacInnis had the better career, and so he gets the fourth spot. 1) Messier 2) Francis 3) Larionov 4) MacInnis Those are my picks.

Young doesn't win Stanley Cups by itself. As for Fedorov, from his rookie year until the time he left the Wings there were no players who scored more in the playoffs than Sergei. None. He also holds the NHL record for most CONSECUTIVE 20-point playoff seasons with four--Even Gretzky, who scored 382 playoff points, only ever managed three in a row. As far as strong...Fedorov is strong. Probably one of the strongest guys in the NHL. Just because he's a Euro and not a power forward dosn't mean he's the size of Hudler.